Luckily for Michigan State, the best of times came in the second half against Penn State, when the Spartans morphed into a totally different team than the one that got off the bus in State College.

The No. 5 Spartans (12-1, 1-0) outscored Penn State (9-5, 0-1) 39-16 in the second half and beat the Nittany Lions 79-63 in their Big Ten opener. The 16 points in the second half was a far cry from the 47 points they surrendered in the first half.

The change in halves was so stark, one had to wonder what exactly went on in the locker room at halftime. What happened was the Izzo ideal with players -- not coaches -- getting on players.

"It was a very, very, very, very disappointing first half," Izzo told Gus Ganakas in a postgame radio interview on the Spartan Sports Network. "But give our guys credit, at least they went in at halftime and I think everybody got after everybody and they responded. That's kind of what you want in a team, a team that responds."

Michigan State had four players in double figures, but it was Branden Dawson who led the charge. Dawson tied a career high with 20 points and added nine rebounds. His presence in the paint became too much for the Nittany Lions to handle in the post and helped the Spartans dominate the glass. MSU outrebounded Penn State 45-27.

"Dawson played pretty well," Izzo said. "When you look at everything, (he played) pretty good defense, rebounded well. If we would have got that last missed free throw that he should have had, he'd have had a double-double. But getting 20 points, making all his free throws, there were some real positives there."

In addition to the extra energy on the glass, Izzo credited Michigan State's surge to another halftime adjustment.

"We made some adjustments on those ball screens in the second half that ate us alive the first half," Izzo said. "They got so many wide-open threes (in the first half). We just didn't play very well. But give them credit too, they hit all those threes. At one point they were six out of seven."

"I thought (the defense), along with the plus-19 rebounding were two enormous positives in this game," Izzo said. "I think we did a better job taking care of the ball the second half too. There was enough to be disappointed in to have an early morning New Year's Day practice. Maybe another one before we watch our Spartans hopefully win the Rose Bowl."

Michigan State's next game is Saturday, Jan. 4 at Indiana (2:00 p.m., CBS). The Hoosiers (10-4, 0-1) lost at Illinois today 83-80 in overtime.